alter form

Submitted by kent on 02/15/2004. ( ) 69.72.43.227

My problem is i have a sika hide that measures 5 1/2 x 11 meat measurement most forms are bigger i have small deer i guess.My question is how much can you cut a form down inch wise and still keep your form detail.I can get say 5 1/2x 14 sika form 3 inches seems to much to cut away or would it be better to get a whitetail button buck 5 1/2 x 12 1/2 alter it to that.There may also be some other exotic forms with the right measurements would it be a better choice to match it up with one of them.Thanks

Sika deer

This response submitted by George on 02/15/2004. ( georoof@aol.com ) 152.163.252.195

As I'm no believer in "meat measuring", I'd assume the deer was slightly larger than the 11 inches anyway (that's just slightly larger than a softball). Next, you can't use a whitetail form as their necks are much longer than the small Sika's I see around here from Dorchester, Maryland. Also, the Sika has the wapiti feature and the head and face are small and delicate. Order the smallest form you can find that will fit the species and then alter it, but ONLY after you've test fitted the tanned and shaved skin. Then do what you need to do to mount it. (BTW, I have a similar one and I use the "Y" cut. I intend to cut the head off the mannikin and mount the face first. Then slide that thin neck up into the skin, epoxy the mannikin back together and then sew up my "Y" incision.)